Legislative Update – May 13, 2025Dear Neighbors, I hope you could take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather we had over the weekend, get outside, and take advantage of the wonderful parks, trails, and outdoor spaces our district has to offer! Here at the State Capitol, legislators are working hard in our last days of the 2025 session to pass a balanced two-year state budget that invests in public services and helps Minnesotans and their families all across our state. The House has already passed key budget bills in many areas of state government, and that work continues this week. In our current 67-67 tied House, all these bills are the product of compromise between DFL and GOP legislators and are passing the House floor with bipartisan support.  I Want to Hear From YOU!With looming threats of cuts from D.C. to federal initiatives like Medicaid and Social Security, I’m sharply focused on what these fiscal reductions will mean for how well we serve not only Maple Grove, but our entire state. We’ve invested in Americans with these programs as a part of our commitment to helping our most vulnerable populations live with dignity. Everything from childcare, to education funding, and ensuring our cherished elders can age in place; it’s all on the line, and the decisions we make at the state level can make a local impact. To that end, I’d appreciate your feedback on the following mini survey: Which of the following federal administration policies are most urgent to address in Minnesota? Please email me (rep.kristin.bahner@house.mn.gov) with your response. - Cuts to Medicaid, which is how one in four Minnesotans and 40% of children get healthcare in our state.
- The impact of federal budget cuts to the state budget.
- Mass firings of federal employees.
- Imposing tariffs on Minnesota’s largest trading partners.
- Abolishing the Department of Education and less federal funding for local schools.
- All of the above
- None of the above
- Other
HOA Reform UpdateAnother bipartisan proposal moving forward at the legislature in these final days is the HOA/CIC Reform package, which I’ve authored alongside GOP Sen. Eric Lucero, DFL Sen. Susan Pha, and GOP Rep. Shane Mekeland. You can read more about the details in my previous newsletter here. The bill has been carefully vetted by the appropriate legislative committees, taking public testimony including from the Minnesota Bar Association, representatives of the Boards and a wide spectrum of property managers large and small, the Minnesota Bankers Association and the Association of Credit Unions, the Homeownership Center, and Legal Aid. Last week, the Minnesota Senate passed our bill with a two-thirds supermajority in favor of our common sense reform bill that adds strong consumer protections currently lacking in statute while curbing the most common abuse. It requires HOA’s to clearly list a schedule of fines and fees, limits conflicts of interest, self-dealing and eliminates kickbacks while establishing a base level of best practices for internal dispute resolution to avoid contentious disputes before they happen through transparency and good communication. Throughout this whole session, my co-authors and I reviewed hundreds of potential amendments and taken many stakeholder suggestions to improve the bill and craft the strongest bill possible. Through negotiations we have moved mountains to balance the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders and strike an agreement for strong protections. You can watch a video I recorded after the Senate vote here.  I’d also encourage you to read this community voices commentary authored by heads of the Minnesota Homeownership Center, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, African Career, Education and Resource Inc., and Housing Justice Center, who all wrote to urge the Minnesota Legislature to pass our efforts to reform HOAs this session. There are still many paths forward to pass this bill this session, and my bipartisan coauthors and I are working hard to ensure this makes it across the finish line. State Government CommitteeOur State Government budget keeps critical services running and supports our wonderful state employees as they deliver services to Minnesotans every day. As the co-vice chair of the State Government Finance and Policy Committee, I’m proud of our work to get a bipartisan budget passed on a 131-1 vote!  Our budget supports healthy aging and enhances fraud prevention efforts. The Elections budget contains several bills that continues to support Minnesota’s long track record of voting and civic engagement, including my bill to modernize the PCR program that focuses on grassroots support of candidates and allows voters to file for a refund online. This improvements is long overdue and meets our neighbors where they are in their busy lives. You can watch my comments on the House Floor here. I’m glad to report that the bill also invests in critical IT cybersecurity measures, a passion I share with the GOP co-chair of the committee, Rep. Jim Nash. In addition, the budget helps the Minnesota Attorney General track down Medicaid fraud and the Office of the Legislative Auditor to ensure Minnesota’s taxpayer dollars are spent accurately and efficiently. I was proud to help craft and pass this bill and look forward to another green vote board after final negotiations. Budget Bill UpdateWe are passing budget bills to fund our state government and agencies for the next two years. Working together with Republicans, we are making good progress, and all our bills are passing with bipartisan support. Due to the tied House, many of these bills include provisions that I support as well as provisions I disagree with or would change. However, I believe it’s important to come together to pass our budget, and so I am voting in favor of these bills while also working to improve them as we head into final negotiations with the Governor and the Senate. Here’s a quick recap of what we have voted on so far: - An Agriculture Budget that invests in Farm to School Programs, worker protections for bird flu, and supports new farmers with down payment assistance.
- A Commerce Budget that provides stronger consumer oversight, tackles rising homeowners’ insurance, and includes a provision for an HOA ombudsperson to facilitate disputes between unit owners and associations.
- An Energy Budget that continues our work promoting proven clean energy sources, lowering energy costs for families, creating high-paying clean energy jobs, and building a more resilient energy system.
- An Environment and Natural Resources Budget that protects the progress we made last session in ensuring clean air, water, and soil for future generations.
- A Higher Education Budget that makes it easier for Minnesotans to pursue higher education and protects the North Star Promise program.
- A Housing Budget that invests in building new affordable housing, provides rental assistance to those who need it most, and continues to take on our housing shortage.
- A Human Services Budget that works to preserve key services that Minnesotans rely on, especially for those working and living in nursing homes.
- A Legacy Bill that uses our Lottery proceeds wisely to enhance our environment, protect our clean water, expand parks and trails, and celebrate arts, culture, and history.
- A Public Safety & Judiciary Budget that improves and supports victim services, police training, and privacy protections for judges.
- A Transportation Budget that builds reliable roads and sturdy bridges, invests in aviation infrastructure, and more.
- A Veterans Budget that invests in those who served our country, especially focusing on reducing veterans' depression and suicides. I’m incredibly disappointed that a provision protecting our veterans from claim sharks and fraudsters was not included, and I’m hoping it will be added in further negotiations.
- A Workforce, Labor, and Economic Development Budget that continues employment and training services programs, protects workers’ rights, and increases teacher apprenticeship grants.
As a legislator who has worked in times of split party control before, I am looking at each of these bills holistically to ensure they’re doing more good than bad, and that they will improve the lives of families in Maple Grove.
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